In a far corner of the room, the Christmas decals,peeling from the edges, but still enough intactto reflect off the rain on the window,retain some of the light of the season,but only when the traffic signal so many floors belowchanges from red to green and back againin its predictable rhythm.

The gateleg table--so practicalthe way it could hug a cornerand still seat sometimes five or six for holidays,but not if they were too full-grown--now’s on its way to being antique,though purchased new from a small shop in Buffalo,soon after the war, when all seemed possible.But the cards we place upon itdon’t always want to remain upright,though if they fall, we fix in passing,without thinking much, even at this late datewhen they could just as soon be gathered up and tossed.

We’ve mostly forgotten who sent them,as friends we’ve known grow farther away,and many more each year exit our lifeand, we only hope--how silence follows silence--not their own.Though even this perpetual not knowingcan be comfort as time hurries byand another Christmas, with any joy we’ve remembered to share,dwindles in January’s own sharp coldand unkind light.

Alan Walowitz​Alan Walowitz’s poems can be found on the web and off. He’s a Contributing Editor at Verse-Virtual, an Online Community Journal of Poetry, and teaches at Manhattanville College and St. John’s University. His chapbook, Exactly Like Love, was published by Osedax Press in 2016 and is now in its second printing. Go to alanwalowitz.com for more poems and more information.

​Tim Savage (artist), a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru, is a graphic designer, fine artist, and teacher of art, calligraphy, and web design. He’s won numerous awards in watercolor, oils and pastel painting and is a published illustrator. Tim’s a member of the Art League of Nassau County, the National Art League, and is an active volunteer in the Inkwell Foundation, an organization that brings cartoonists and illustrators together with children in need. He can be found on the web at http://timsavageteacher.com/

Thanks Alan for the great poem to accompany my watercolor. The original painting is on display at the National Art League in Douglaston New York through the month of February.

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Cynthia Pritchett

2/10/2018 06:55:19 pm

It's all just so beautiful!!!

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Mary McCarthy

2/10/2018 07:11:57 pm

you so accurately evoke that inevitable melancholy that comes after the celebrations are over, and so much winter still ahead! And of course these are the times we also think of losses and separations, that seem to grow year by year..

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Elizabeth Kamke

2/10/2018 07:30:31 pm

What beautiful teamwork! I love this.

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Brian Bassuk

2/12/2018 12:42:35 pm

The words you use in describing your friends painting bring his art to even greater light. The cards we often receive are warm remembrances of good times we share. Thanks for your wonderful poem.

This small poem, and collaboration, is so large because it touches, and illustrates, the melancholic feelings and cluttered tables, we all have at this time of year. Love it.

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Arnie Eliezer

2/13/2018 08:47:23 am

Together, the poem and the painting are perfectly paired, much like a the holiday cards that refuse to remain upright. Each stands on its own as a work of art, but each being enhanced by their pairing.

Kudos to the painter and the poet- both have succeeded in their own unique way.

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